Asher's appointment wouldn't be a big deal, except he is a convicted felon. In 1986, Asher and Pennsylvania Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer were convicted in federal court of mail fraud, perjury, and conspiracy to commit bribery. The Daily News reports that Asher's appointment is causing controversy as the Pennsylvania Constitution bars those convicted of bribery, perjury, or other serious offenses from holding public office. Whether or not serving on the SEPTA Board falls under the constitutional ban remains to be seen. And people wonder why confidence in SEPTA is shrinking?
In Brennan's article, Bruce Ledewitz, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, searched legal opinions back to the 19th century to see if a spot on SEPTA's board equals an "office of trust," finding no legal precedents. Here's a quote from Ledewitz that really cracks me up. "A very good argument can be made that it is an office of trust or profit." When it comes to SEPTA, profit seems to fit perfectly, but I don't know about the trust part.
I guess it would have been too much to ask, I mean SEPTA is only $32 million in the red (or so the SEPTA "apologists/spokesmen" such as Richard Maloney and Jim Whitaker would have you believe), but would it really have hurt SEPTA to have increased train frequencies to a consistant 5-7 minutes between 7:00pm and 1:00am, when the bulk of riders are either arriving or leaving the Art Museum area? Also, it wouldn't have hurt for SEPTA to put more sub-surf trolleys on the streets. (Maybe the TWU would bellyache for a few minutes, until they realize that many of the motormen would get overtime pay.) Additionally, it would have been nice if a couple of extra trips on the Red Arrow routes (specifically, 101, 102, 104, 108, 109) would depart between 12:30am and 1:30am to accomodate the extra ridership instead of just having the drivers wait an extra 5-10 minutes (which is what happened last night). About the only thing done right on the SEPTA system was Regional Rail (which seems to be the only division that can do anything right, though that might be stretching it just a wee bit).
Of course, next year it would be nice if SEPTA applied these suggestions. It is after all, common sense. But, of course, don't expect this to actually occur, because after all ... this is SEPTA. The terms "SEPTA" and "common sense" are rarely - if ever - used in the same sentence.
Winona Ryder and Benicio Del Toro? Oh, puh-lease. When did they become talented enough to even be on the same stage - much less be in the same program - as Mel Gibson or Kevin Spacey? (I guess David "I can't act, but my daddy's on TV, so that's why I'm an actor" Borneaz was too busy pretending to be an actor to return home to Philadelphia.)
If the Hollywood "carpetbaggers" want to celebrate the birth of our country, let them go to Washington, DC, where they would feel right at home. Next year, I think I might go to Wildwood or somewhere down the Jersey Shore so at least I can enjoy a real "community" celebration instead of some "fake" Hollywood celebration that the bozos at "Welcome America" would rather stage.
April 2002 Archives
March 2002 Archives
January-February 2002 Archives
November-December 2001 Archives
October 2001 Archives
September 2001 Archives
August 2001 Archives
July 2001 Archives
June 2001 Archives
April-May 2001 Archives
March 2001 Archives
January-February 2001 Archives
October-December 2000 Archives
July-September 2000 Archives
April-June 2000 Archives
January-March 2000 Archives
October-December 1999 Archives
June-September 1999 Archives
Comments about this page can be emailed to ctrabs@hotmail.com.
Return to SEPTA Fleet News Archives Page
Page re-launched Wednesday, 29 May 2002